Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am sorry for the long message, but I needed to describe my issue fully. Please do read it, you may be able to help someone out.

For a while now my iguana has been eating less than he used to. I had raised him from when he was a baby till now he is six years old and 5.5 feet long. I had been struggling with this for a while. I had posted on a number of forums (not this one) before. I described how that recently he would not eat his greens like he used to, just occasionally nibbling at it, but when given his favorite foods (bananas, soaked mazuri tortoise diet) he would wolf it down. This prompted many forum members to tell me he's just being a "picky eater" and to just keep giving greens and exercise "tough love". This all made sense as the behaviour started about a week after I had fed him Mazuri Tortoise diet for the first time. Others said it was "mating season".

Well, 4 months down the line, and he is still like this. I admit I would cave in every few days and give him his favorites. He is definately eating something as he poops, albeit not daily as he used to, but every 4 to 5 days he would let out a big poop.

Someone suggested that maybe he is dehydrated, as he never drinks and isn't eating his greens for a while. I didn't buy it because he looks so "plump" and well fed, looks MUCH more fleshed out than most iguanas I see both in real life and online. He does seem a bit lazy in his cage (6'X5'X6') but he definitely is not "lethargic" when I take him out for a walk. He would run around when I need to I find it very difficult to restrain him even though I am a strong guy.

I looked that up on the net, and there was a "skin turgor test" where you pinch the iguana on the side of his waist just in front of the back legs, to see how turgid it is. However, there are discrepancies with the description. Some said that it was supposed to snap back like a rubber band to complete flatness. Some said if it takes more than a second then he may be dehydrated. I tried this, and I pulled a skin fold and pinched it, when I let go, it snapped right back about 90% of the way to original, but the last little "bump" took about half a second to "flatten out". Someone on the forum tested this on his iguana and said that it snaps right back completely like a rubber band to flat, but it turns out his iguana is a baby... which I presume is different. I find this very surprising as I look at iguana pictures including wild iguanas and their skin on the side of their body usually DOES have some wrinkles when they are turning to one side (i.e. like when they are turning around) or when wiggling around. When lying straight of course there are no wrinkles.

I then looked further and on this website of long beach animal hospital
http://www.lbah.com/reptile/nshp.htm
(look at third picture down not including ads) where they describe ANY skin wrinkle as "evidence" for dehydration. I personally have never seen any iguana fleshed out like a german sausage with human like elastic skin that has zero folds in their skin when they are twisting and turning around. I can't imagine skin with rough scales to behave like this.

Can someone enlighten me on this? Perhaps you can try the skin pinch test on your ADULT iguana and let me know what I should be expecting? Any suggestions?

I agree with you completely that all iguanas show that line when they turn etc. I can also say that most iguanas under 2 has that line even while laying down in a straight line. To test an iguana for dehydration it is best to do the pinch test on either the upper arm or leg. The urates are usually yellowish when they are severely dehydrated.

I do not believe that tough love works with an iguana, they are the most stubborn creatures I have ever worked with.

Although my iguana eats next to nothing during breeding season he still poops every single day. I am worried about your iguana, he is definitely doing things that raise concern and it can be more than just dehydration.

These care sheets may answer some of your questions.
Iguana Care Sheets & Information

Well I had not checked back here for a while because pretty much right after I had posted it the next day he started eating more again and is pretty much back to normal now. Turns out he was just bored of the same 4 or 5 veggies I rotated and I tried somethign entirely new like the morning glory and the watercress and he started eating normal.

But I am just curious, what exactly does my iguana "do" that is raising cocerns to you?

You said that he only poops every 4 to 5 days, in most cases not pooping spell a lot of problems. I am glad that everything is back to normal.

My iguana receives a mixture of 8 to 10 different greens with 1 shredded veggie and once or twice a week he gets fruit. They eat over 250 different plants in the wild so variety is crucial.

I put a lot of effort into his dishes and make it look interesting. Yes I have a spoiled boy.

Reptileparrots